What are the proofs both for and against this being a Christian nation as well as for or against Bible princip?

Bible principles or Christian principles?

gutbucket2009-12-01T10:24:35Z

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The only proof of it being a christian nation is that 60-80% of the people who live here think that religious nonsense is the truth.

Anonymous2009-12-01T10:54:39Z

The supposed "proofs" for are nothing but extrapolation of the personal beliefs of *some* of the founders. The claim is that since John Adams believed in god and jesus, and helped found the nation, then his motivation MUST have been to found a nation based on god and jesus.

The fallacy of that supposed proof is abundantly clear: if John Adams or any other founder wanted to found the nation on god, jesus, the bible, or christianity then they would have explicitly stated so in the documents that founded the nation. Yet you will not find any of those words in the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution. Not only will you not find those words, you won't find even obscure references to them, or any implication that they were involved.

Their claim is equivalent to claiming that because the first designer of the Intel Pentium chip was an Indian Hindu, that the Intel Pentium is an Indian Hindu chip. Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn't it?

That some of our laws are similar to rules in the bible might have some merit, but no more than the fact that some of our laws are similar to precepts of secular humanism. There are muslim theocracies in the world that have laws similar to some bible rules -- that certainly doesn't make them christian nations nor prove they're christian nations.

Both the implicit and explicit (Treaty of Tripoli) documentation shows such claims have no merit. Christianity and the bible were absolutely part of what the founders drew on to arrive at their ideas for their new nation. But they didn't draw on christianity or the bible exclusively, and the many statements condemning theocracies and guaranteeing freedom of and from religion show that they specifically wanted to avoid a nation based on any religion, christianity included.

Peace.

IamSparticles2009-12-01T10:30:14Z

Well, the constitution of the US is the document which defines how our country is to be governed. There is no mention there of god, Jesus, Christianity, or any other religious particulars. Furthermore, the first amendment makes things very clear:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Thomas Jefferson, himself, clarified in letters and other writings that the establishment clause was intended to "erect a wall of separation between church and state." Because only by keeping the two apart can we guarantee that everyone has the freedom to worship if and how they choose.

Unfortunately, that separation has been violated in the past, and continues to be violated today. Especially in times of great national fervor. During the 1950s, many people felt we needed to differentiate ourselves from the "godless communists" by embracing religious belief. That was when the words "under god" were added to the pledge of allegiance, and the phrase "in god we trust" became an official motto, replacing the earlier "e pluribus unum."

Anonymous2009-12-01T10:21:17Z

There's a reason why it doesn't say, "One nation, under Jesus. . ."